The present disclosure relates generally to information handling systems, and more particularly to portable information handling system components such as notebook computers, personal digital assistants (PDA's), cellular phones and gaming/entertainment devices capable of communicating over wireless media.
As the value and use of information continues to increase, individuals and businesses seek additional ways to acquire, process and store information. One option available to users is information handling systems. An information handling system (‘IHS’) generally processes, compiles, stores, and/or communicates information or data for business, personal, or other purposes thereby allowing users to take advantage of the value of the information. Because technology and information handling needs and requirements vary between different users or applications, information handling systems may also vary regarding what information is handled, how the information is handled, how much information is processed, stored, or communicated, and how quickly and efficiently the information may be processed, stored, or communicated. The variations in information handling systems allow for information handling systems to be general or configured for a specific user or specific use such as financial transaction processing, airline reservations, enterprise data storage, or global communications. In addition, information handling systems may include a variety of hardware and software components that may be configured to process, store, and communicate information and may include one or more computer systems, data storage systems, and networking systems.
Presently, use of wireless local area networks (LAN's) has experienced rapid growth since wireless technology when used with portable IHS devices combine information accessibility with user mobility. Many of these IHS's, especially the portable ones, typically use various wireless peripheral devices such as radios and wireless network interface cards (NIC's) to communicate between themselves and/or with other wired or wireless networks, including intranets and the Internet.
Multiple technological standards may be adopted for use in wireless networks. For example, IEEE 802.11, Bluetooth, Global System for Mobile Communications (GSM), and Infrared Data Association (IrDA) are widely accepted standards for wireless communications. Regardless of the standard used, wireless devices typically operate in certain predefined frequency spectrum. The IEEE 802.11 standard, for example, permits devices to establish either peer-to-peer (P2P) networks or hierarchical networks based on fixed access point (AP) devices, which provide network access to wireless client devices.
FIG. 1A illustrates a block diagram of an IEEE 802.11 standard based wireless network 100, according to prior art. The wireless network 100 includes an access point (AP) 110 (also referred to as a base station), a first client station 120 and a second client station 130, with each station (STA) capable of communication with another station via wireless communication media such as radio. As is well known, each client station may be operated in one of multiple modes of operation such as an infrastructure mode and an ad-hoc mode. That is, compliance with the IEEE 802.11 standard typically requires that the client station 120 or 130 have only one active mode of operation at a time.
The network 100 is described as a basic service set (BSS) wireless network, which includes the AP 110 supporting one or more wireless client stations such as stations 120 and 130. The BSS may also be referred to as an infrastructure wireless network. In the infrastructure mode of operation, the AP 110 acts as a ‘hub’ device that connects one or more wireless communication devices together to create a wireless network. The AP 110 acts as the network's arbitrator, negotiating when each client station 120 or 130 may transmit.
The AP 110 may be connected to a wired network 150 to provide bridge functionality for relaying information between stations on each side. The AP 110 may communicate with multiple client stations located within a communications range of the wireless media. For example, certain types of wireless radios may be able to communicate anywhere within a range varying from about 50 to about 5000 feet with the use of special antennas. However, the specific communication range may vary with the standard used and the type of radio devices deployed.
FIG. 1B illustrates a block diagram of an IEEE 802.11 standard based wireless network 101, according to prior art. An independent basic service set (IBSS) network 101 includes at least two stations such as client stations 120 and 130 communicating directly with each other via a direct communication link 160. The IBSS network 101 is also sometimes referred to as an ad-hoc or peer-to-peer wireless network. In the ad-hoc mode of operation, a client station pair, such as the first and second client stations 120 and 130, establishes the direct link 160 without the participation of the AP 110 (not shown). Other client stations 170 and 180 may be included in the network 101. However, only one client station pair may directly communicate at a time.
Referring back to FIG. 1A, bandwidth of wireless media is often a bottleneck, especially compared to wired media. Present scheme to share multi-media content and/or large information files within the network 100 require uploading of the information from a source client station to the AP 110 and subsequent download from the AP 110 to a target client station. This scheme requires twice the bandwidth compared to a direct communication link between the source and target client stations. Switching between the infrastructure mode and the ad-hoc mode to optimize bandwidth may be possible but it requires time-consuming client station re-configuration. Also, the switching is typically not automatic and/or transparent to the user and hence is not practical.
Emerging wireless standards such as IEEE 802.11e are developing techniques to enable direct communication between two client stations, while operating in an infrastructure mode. However, these emerging standards presently require that the AP 110 be upgraded to be in compliance with the emerging standard. As such, IEEE 802.11 standard based legacy wireless networks may not be compatible with these techniques without a significant and costly upgrade.
Therefore, a need exists to provide an improved method and system for efficiently communicating information between client stations in a wireless network. More specifically, a need exists to provide an improved scheme to share information between source and target client stations, while the source client station is associated with the AP in the infrastructure mode. Additionally, a need exists for the AP to maintain compatibility with standard based legacy wireless networks. Accordingly, it would be desirable to provide an improved scheme to optimize bandwidth of a wireless network, absent the disadvantages found in the prior methods discussed above.